Water Quality of Selected Rivers in the New England Coastal Basins in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, 1998-2000 By Kimberly W. Campo, Sarah M. Flanagan, and Keith W. Robinson U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Water-Resources Investigations Report 03-4210 NATIONAL WATER-QUALITY ASSESSMENT PROGRAM Pembroke, New Hampshire 2003 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR GALE A. NORTON, Secretary U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Charles G. Groat, Director Any use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. For additional information write to: Copies of this report can be purchased from: District Chief U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Geological Survey Information Services New Hampshire/Vermont District Building 810 361 Commerce Way Box 25286, Federal Center Pembroke, NH 03275-3718 Denver, CO 80225-0286 http://nh.water.usgs.gov FOREWORD landscapes, priority ecological resources, and agricultural, urban, and natural sources of The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is contamination. committed to serve the Nation with accurate and Each assessment is guided by a nationally timely scientific information that helps enhance consistent study design and methods of sampling and protect the overall quality of life, and and analysis. The assessments thereby build local facilitates effective management of water, knowledge about water-quality issues and trends in biological, energy, and mineral resources. a particular stream or aquifer while providing an (http://www.usgs.gov/). Information on the quality understanding of how and why water quality varies of the Nation’s water resources is of critical interest regionally and nationally. The consistent, multi- to the USGS because it is so integrally linked to the scale approach helps to determine if certain types long-term availability of water that is clean and of water-quality issues are isolated or pervasive, safe for drinking and recreation and that is suitable and allows direct comparisons of how human for industry, irrigation, and habitat for fish and activities and natural processes affect water quality wildlife. Escalating population growth and and ecological health in the Nation’s diverse increasing demands for the multiple water uses geographic and environmental settings. make water availability, now measured in terms of Comprehensive assessments on pesticides, quantity and quality, even more critical to the long- nutrients, volatile organic compounds, trace term sustainability of our communities and metals, and aquatic ecology are developed at the ecosystems. national scale through comparative analysis of the The USGS implemented the National Water- Study-Unit findings. Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program to support (http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/natsyn.html). national, regional, and local information needs and The USGS places high value on the decisions related to water-quality management and communication and dissemination of credible, policy. (http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/). Shaped by timely, and relevant science so that the most recent and coordinated with ongoing efforts of other and available knowledge about water resources can Federal, State, and local agencies, the NAWQA be applied in management and policy decisions. Program is designed to answer: What is the We hope this NAWQA publication will provide condition of our Nation’s streams and ground you the needed insights and information to meet water? How are the conditions changing over time? your needs, and thereby foster increased awareness How do natural features and human activities affect and involvement in the protection and restoration the quality of streams and ground water, and where of our Nation’s waters. are those effects most pronounced? By combining The NAWQA Program recognizes that a information on water chemistry, physical national assessment by a single program cannot characteristics, stream habitat, and aquatic life, the address all water-resource issues of interest. NAWQA Program aims to provide science-based External coordination at all levels is critical for a insights for current and emerging water issues and fully integrated understanding of watersheds and priorities. NAWQA results can contribute to for cost-effective management, regulation, and informed decisions that result in practical and conservation of our Nation’s water resources. The effective water-resource management and Program, therefore, depends extensively on the strategies that protect and restore water quality. advice, cooperation, and information from other Since 1991, the NAWQA Program has Federal, State, interstate, Tribal, and local implemented interdisciplinary assessments in more agencies, non-government organizations, industry, than 50 of the Nation’s most important river basins academia, and other stakeholder groups. The and aquifers, referred to as Study Units. assistance and suggestions of all are greatly (http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/nawqamap.html). appreciated. Collectively, these Study Units account for more than 60 percent of the overall water use and population served by public water supply, and are Robert M. Hirsch representative of the Nation’s major hydrologic Associate Director for Water CONTENTS Abstract ............................................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................... 2 Purpose and Scope ..................................................................................................................................... 2 Description of the New England Coastal Basins Study Area .................................................................... 2 Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................................................... 6 Study Design ....................................................................................................................................................... 6 Indicator Basins .......................................................................................................................................... 6 Integrator Basins ........................................................................................................................................ 8 Data Collection and Analysis .............................................................................................................................. 9 Data Collection ........................................................................................................................................... 9 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................................................. 9 Water Quality of Selected New England Coastal Basins Rivers ........................................................................ 11 Streamflow Conditions ............................................................................................................................... 11 Field Measurements ................................................................................................................................... 11 Dissolved Ions ............................................................................................................................................ 14 Nutrients ..................................................................................................................................................... 17 Nitrogen ............................................................................................................................................ 17 Phosphorus ........................................................................................................................................ 17 Pesticides .................................................................................................................................................... 21 Volatile Organic Compounds .............................................................................................................................. 23 Water-Quality Conditions of Monitoring Sites in the New England Coastal Basins, Long Island- New Jersey Coastal Drainages, and Other National Water-Quality Assessment Program Urban Sites ........... 26 Nutrients ..................................................................................................................................................... 26 Pesticides .................................................................................................................................................... 26 Volatile Organic Compounds ..................................................................................................................... 26 Summary and Conclusions .................................................................................................................................. 30 References Cited ................................................................................................................................................. 32 Appendix 1. Constituents analyzed in surface-water samples from fixed sites in the New England Coastal Basins study area, 1998-2000 ..............................................................................................................